Do new reconstructions clarify the relationships between the Phanerozoic diversity dynamics of marine invertebrates and long-term eustatic trends?

A relationship between global sea levels and the diversity of marine invertebrates throughout the Phanerozoic remains an urgent matter for debates. Its recognition depends on a proper selection of diversity and eustatic curves. A comparison of changes in the revised sample-standardized generic diversity and long-term global sea-level changes provides a weaker evidence for a direct covarying relationship than established earlier, although the eustatic control on diversity dynamics of marine invertebrates was important during similar to 74% of the Phanerozoic. Multiple causation of biodiversity changes, data bias, erroneous reconstructions, and conceptual misinterpretations are likely explanations of observed difference between the new biodiversity and eustatic curves. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.